News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on The real reason to end the death penalty. Parent comment

Re:The real reason to end the death penalty by rmcpherson on Thursday April 22, 2021 @06:18AM (#26901009)
“We hold these truths to be self evident...” is from the Declaration of Independence. It does not appear in the Constitution.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:The real reason to end the death penalty by MisterBastahrd on Thursday April 22, 2021 @02:08PM (#26905904)
Doesn't matter. The Supreme Court's interpretation of the Constitution is not limited to the words of the document. The Constitution itself is derived from a history of law, letters, and intent that predate the very concept of the United States.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:The real reason to end the death penalty by sjg007 on Thursday April 22, 2021 @10:11PM (#26910328)
Depends on if you are an originalist or not.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:The real reason to end the death penalty by MisterBastahrd on Thursday April 22, 2021 @11:03PM (#26910577)
Nope. A textualist, maybe, but originalists would very much be looking towards English law for guidance on what the Constitution meant.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:The real reason to end the death penalty by sjg007 on Friday April 23, 2021 @07:47AM (#26913710)
It’s called originalism. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Originalism
[ Parent | on HN ]